“Well, that was unexpected,” Su Chen muttered to himself from his vantage point on a faraway mountain.

This had not been a part of his original plan. He had intended to use the curse to torment the Sun Astrals, drag Isabella to Scorched Cliff City, and then have them deal with the curse as a pretext to steal the item that was being stored in Halcyon Earth Forest.

Unexpectedly, however, Amelie had actually descended, and repeatedly at that.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t considered how the gods react. However, the Human Ancestor had told Su Chen that the gods would almost single mindedly focus on destroying the Barrier given the critical juncture they were in. Thus, they likely wouldn’t spend any attention on the small issues of their believers.

Well, it was true that the survival of the Sun Astrals was not a small matter.

But if that was the case, then did the gods actually care about their worshippers?

So if their worshippers were constantly being slaughtered, what would happen then?

Would the gods actually descend and intervene?

Was this yet another way for him to delay the Barrier’s destruction?

A myriad of questions and ideas uncontrollably floated through Su Chen’s mind.

Yes, there were indeed multiple paths to slowing the Barrier’s deterioration.

Countless possibilities flashed through his mind, each designed to decimate the worshippers of these gods.

To accomplish these plans, however, he would need his own faction and subordinates.

I need to keep fostering Isabella, Su Chen thought to himself.

He could already see a group of warriors approaching from off on the horizon — Isabella and the bandits under her control.

After studying the cultivation techniques that Su Chen had given them, their strength had soared significantly, and they were now even able to infuse their horses with Fighting Qi, allowing them to hasten their horses’ footsteps. Their cavalry unit horses could easily traverse rocky mountainsides, allowing them to quickly reach the top of the mountain.

Isabella hopped off the back of her horse and knelt down on one knee before Su Chen. “Greetings, Boss. I have done as you commanded.”

After speaking, she took out a leaf and presented it to Su Chen.

This leaf was vibrantly verdant, as if it had been carved out of exquisite jade. It exuded a strangely alluring aura, and anyone who laid their eyes on it would have a hard time tearing their gaze away.

“The World Tree’s leaf is finally mine,” Su Chen said with a slight smile.

Without the support of the Love Goddess, the Sun Astrals had had no choice but to seek outside help. Even though Isabella and the others had arrived many days later than scheduled, they had still managed to obtain the leaf. His plan was still on course. They had purposefully claimed that the World Tree’s leaf was the true source of the curse and then taken it away.

The World Tree’s leaf was a protective item that the Love Goddess Amelie had given to the Sun Astrals for their protection. After Amelie abandoned them, however, the Sun Astrals suddenly cared much less about the World Tree’s Leaf.

Once the source of the curse disappeared, all that remained for them was to figure out what they wanted their relationship with their Love Goddess to be. But that was a problem for them to tackle alone.

Su Chen was in an extremely good mood now that the World Tree’s leaf was in his possession. He chuckled. “Very well done. Hmm, how should I reward you?”

Surprisingly, Isabella directly said, “Boss, can I propose a reward?”

Su Chen thought for a moment before nodding. “Yes, as long as it’s not too excessive.”

Isabella said, “I want to see your real face, Boss.”

“Hm?” Su Chen was taken aback. He didn’t expect Isabella to make such a request.

Even so, he eventually agreed after a moment’s thought.

The black fog that perpetually shrouded him disappeared, revealing Su Chen’s elegant appearance.

Isabella and the other bandits were all stunned when they saw Su Chen’s true face.

“So that’s what Boss’s true appearance is. He’s quite handsome,” Isabella muttered to herself, slightly dazed by the reveal.

Su Chen gently coughed.

Isabella immediately woke up from her reverie.

Su Chen then said, “Isabella, you have done very well this time. I remember that you once asked me to help you kill your younger sister, who usurped your position as heir of the family, right?”

“Yes,” Isabella said with her head lowered. “But my hatred for her has diminished greatly after such a long time.”

“That won’t do,” Su Chen replied. “I’m afraid that you will have to exact your revenge whether you want to or not.”

“What?” Isabella was stunned.

“Yes. Your next mission is to kill your younger sister and reclaim your rightful status,” Su Chen said.

Isabella had always longed to return to her family as its heiress, but now, she didn’t want it nearly as badly as before.

She had never expected Su Chen to bring up the matter now of all times.

“But Boss, I am already the leader of the......”

“Can bandits not become nobles? Actually, I think they could become even more.”

Even more?

That statement sent Isabella for a loop. What was Su Chen trying to say?

Su Chen continued, saying, “Yes, even more. I have one more task for you in addition to reclaiming your rightful title. I believe that this sort of thing happens quite often in power struggles, right? Your situation is definitely not unique. As long as we look for them, there are too many people who have suffered from the same injustice.”

“So what?”

“Recruit them into the bandit group, and we will give them an opportunity to exact revenge themselves,” Su Chen replied sinisterly.

Isabella felt her heart tremble.

She could sense Su Chen’s lofty ambitions through his words alone.

Isabella gritted her teeth and replied, “Boss, this world is under the control of the gods!”

She was reminding Su Chen that, no matter how powerful a secular force became, they would never be able to withstand the will of the gods. Without the gods’ permission, her boss’s ambition was fated to wither away before ever blossoming.

Su Chen calmly replied, “Do you still not understand even after seeing what happened to the Sun Astrals? The gods are very busy right now...... They have no time to care for such unimportant matters. This is the perfect opportunity for us to expand our influence.”

“With just a group of bandits?”

“Don’t forget that I’m here too.”

If they wanted to stir up a storm, they needed to be strong enough to do so first.

The Gwent Family was one of the three most powerful noble families within the Thunderwood Region. That was as good a starting place as any.

The Red Kite Family was another powerful noble family, but of the Campbell Region. They could be controlled through Sicilia.

These secular powers might be limited in scope by the gods’ influence, but they were far easier to control for this precise reason. Now that the seeds of discord had been sown, it was time to carefully cultivate them so that they would grow and spread. Slowly but surely, they would expand to cover the entire territory.

Before that happened, however, there was still a lot to do.

Being rich resulted in depravity, while being poor created disorder.

Stirring up chaos didn’t just mean rocking the boat; it also required precise timing.

A sudden calamity or shortage of resources was the perfect opportunity to strike.

As such, they needed to prepare and set up these conditions.

The gods had once protected this world, making calamities rare. Now, however, with their attention diverted, the inhabitants of this world would need to begin dealing with such disasters all on their own.

On the other hand, a great calamity would also create many refugees. Aside from sowing even more seeds of chaos, they would become the future foundation for Su Chen’s strength in Kun’s territory, resulting in an even greater disturbance.

Of course, there was no need for him to explain everything to Isabella.

After giving Isabella her orders, Su Chen dismissed her. Then, he pricked his finger and squeezed out a few droplets of fresh blood that turned into clones before dispersing quickly in all directions.

Their departure signalled the beginning of an intense, violent storm.

After doing this, Su Chen began summoning his main body’s will once again.

This time, he was even more discreet than before, and only attempted to make a connection on the consciousness level.

“You’ve done very well. You’ve bought us another three years of time, but you’ll need to start speeding up. The gods could discover your existence at any point in time,” the main body’s will said.

“How do you know this?”

“Even though we created a fake Winter God’s heart as a replacement, the Winter God’s divine power is still dwindling rapidly. The Moon Goddess Church didn’t initially notice the difference, but by now, they are beginning to realize that the heart is just a replica,” the main body replied.

“And how do you know that?”

“We had a small skirmish with them...... at the site of the largest breach in the Barrier.”

The Su Chen in Kun’s territory was struck speechless.

While this projection had been extremely active in Kun’s territory, his main body hadn’t been idle either.

Even though all of his activities to slow down the Barrier’s decline were being carried out in secret, the resulting effect was very real.

When the gods realized that the Barrier’s destruction had suddenly slowed down, they immediately began to investigate.

Of course, they were not investigating any of the matters taking place in Kun’s territory — the possibility that Su Chen could possess such a transcendent projection technique hadn’t even occurred to them.

Their investigation was strictly limited to the Primordial Continent. As a result, they quickly discovered that the largest breach, which they had attempted to conceal, had actually fallen under Su Chen’s control.

As such, both sides were at a tense standoff at this Barrier fracture site.

Now that this fracture was no longer a secret, both Su Chen and the gods were keeping a close eye on the Barrier’s deterioration.

Thankfully, the projection’s bloodline had fully awakened by now; otherwise, their contact would have definitely been noticed by the gods.

“So that’s how it is. If that’s the case, then I won’t be able to give you the World Tree’s leaf,” Su Chen (Frost) said.

“That’s alright. If you use it on the Barrier from within, its effect will be even greater.”

“But I can’t even make contact with the Barrier of the Gods yet.”

“That’s why I said that you need to use your time wisely and quickly get stronger.”

“I’ve already regained the power of a Yang Opening Realm cultivator. Soon, I’ll reach the Light Shaking Realm.”

Frost’s) cultivation rate was already quite fast. His main issue was just that he didn’t have enough time.

No matter how quickly he cultivated, it would take a substantial amount of time for him to develop a solid foundation.

“I’m not referring to that path.”

Hm?

Frost) squinted his eyes.

He and Su Chen had originally been one, but the different environment meant that the projection and the main body now had slightly disconnected wills. As soon as the main Su Chen reminded him, however, he immediately understood.

Yes, Su Chen was referring to a different direction of cultivation.

“Immortal energy!”

In terms of the Origin Realm’s normal cultivation system, Frost was about to reach the Light Shaking Realm.

But in terms of the immortal cultivation system, Frost was still at the Qi Refining Stage. He hadn’t even reached perfection in that stage yet, let alone Foundation Establishment.

“That won’t be easy,” Frost said with a shake of his head.

Even though Su Chen had given Frost the power of his bloodline, that bloodline only allowed him to quickly absorb energy from the Origin Realm’s system, not immortal energy.

Frost merely possessed a cultivation technique for immortal energy, and no way of directly inheriting it through Su Chen’s bloodline.

This was not because immortal energy was on a higher level, but rather because it was simply not something that could be contained within a mere bloodline. Gathering and cultivating immortal energy required slow and painstaking personal effort.

Of course, this meant that Frost’s path to becoming an immortal would be extremely slow.

It wasn’t possible to reach a high level in a short period of time.

Surprisingly, however, the main body said, “You don’t need to inherit it. Why not just consume more?”

“Consume?” Frost was taken aback.

Naturally, Frost also knew that consuming divine power was the best way to nourish the immortal energy in his body.

But there was a large problem in the form of just how much divine energy he could consume.

Even though immortal energy and divine power were two sides of the same coin, attempting to use the pitiful amount of immortal energy that he currently possessed to consume divine power would basically be courting death.

This was analogous to hunting Demonic Beasts. Even though a Demonic Beast’s flesh was nourishing and delicious, it was entirely possible that the hunter would become the hunted if they weren’t strong enough.

This was why Frost had never even considered consuming divine power until now.

However, he knew that the main body definitely had a reason for bringing it up.

Indeed, the main body went on to say, “Since the gods and I are now openly facing off against each other at the Barrier’s breach, I don’t think that it’ll be a problem to occasionally step in and create some opportunities. Just wait to reap the benefits.”

Frost chuckled when he heard this.

Suddenly, the issue had become quite trivial.

He would just kill and devour to his heart’s content.

How wonderful!